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How many species of swans are there?

How many species of swans are there? On which continents can they be found? When does a swan sing? Read on to find out fascinating details about these graceful birds

Six species

Swans are the among the largest aquatic birds known for their striking beauty, elegance and graceful movements. There are six swan species and they are native to five continents (except Africa and Antarctica). Asia has no native species, but migrants can be seen in its eastern and northern parts. Except for the black swan and the black-necked swan, all swans the mute swan, the tundra swan and its Eurasian sub-species the Bewick's swan, and the trumpeter and whooper swans are white.

The mute swan is from Eurasia. It is a large, beautiful bird with snow-white plumage, an orange beak with a black knob at the base, and a graceful, curving neck. It holds its wings slightly raised above its back while swimming. It is the mute swan that figures in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, ‘The Ugly Duckling’.

In legend, the mute swan is said to burst into song only when dying. The expression 'swan song', the last work of a great person, derives from this. In reality, it makes a variety of sounds ranging from hissing and growling to bugling, snorting and whistling! The sounds are not as loud as that of other swan species, hence the name. It is a huge eater, gobbling up more than 3 kg of aquatic vegetation a day.

Largest waterfowl

The trumpeter swan of North America is the largest waterfowl in the world. It looks similar to the mute, but has a completely black beak. It is 1.8m long and weighs over 13 kg. Its weight, size and wingspan of 3m mean that it requires a long stretch of open water for the take-off, which sounds like a horse galloping!

Trumpeter swans were widely hunted and by the late 1800s, they were on the brink of extinction. Women used the skin as powder puffs and hats were adorned with the feathers. The long flight feathers were coveted for writing quills. It was only an intensive conservation campaign and a ban on hunting in the 2000s that saved the bird.

Their deep honking calls give them their name. Trumpeters are unusual in that they incubate their eggs by covering them with their webbed feet.

Fact file

*Swans usually mate for life. They engage in a graceful courtship, bobbing their heads and bowing to each other with much ruffling of feathers and lifting of wings.

*All swans are aggressive in defending their nests and the larger species may attack people venturing too close.

*A male swan is a cob, a female swan is a pen and a baby is called a cygnet.

*The existence of black swans was once considered impossible till they were discovered in Australia. The black-necked swan lives in South America.

*The wind rushes through the wings of American tundra swans in flight giving them the moniker 'whistling swans’.

*Male black swans spend more time incubating the eggs than females.

*The whooper swan of northern Europe, named for its loud call, is the national bird of Finland.

* 'Swan upping' is an annual ceremony in England in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, ringed and then released.

Human swan

In December 2016, Sacha Dench, a 41-year-old British conservationist, became the first woman to cross the English Channel in a motorised paraglider. She was following migrating Bewick's swans from Russia to Britain.

Dench made the 10-week, 7200-km journey to study the reasons for their steadily declining numbers. She discovered that the migrating swans were shot down and that many of the wetlands where they usually rest and feed en route had disappeared.

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Which is the largest producer of millet in the world?

India is the largest producer of millets in the world. Millets are a group of small-seeded cereal grains. They are called superfoods as they are rich in macro and micronutrient. The year 2023 has been declared the UN International Year of Millets so as to create awareness about these superfoods and encourage their consumption. They are a group of planet-friendly crops as they possess superior climate resilience properties and require fewer inputs. Let's learn about a few millet varieties.

KODO MILLET

 A millet indigenous to India, the kodo millet is hardy and drought-resistant. It is a good source of protein and dietary fibre. It is said to have been domesticated some 3000 years ago. The millet is grown mostly by the tribal communities of Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

FOXTAIL MILLET

Also called kangni, the foxtail millet is a drought-resistant crop. It is largely grown in Rajasthan, UP, Haryana, and the drylands of the Deccan Plateau. When compared to mainstream cereals, foxtail millet is highly nutritious. It is a rich source of protein and has a good amount of fat and fibre. Foxtail millet originated in China. The crop has a very short growth cycle.

LITTLE MILLET

A small-grained cereal crop, the little millet is also called kutki. It is largely cultivated as a cereal across India, Nepal, and western Myanmar. This crop can withstand both drought and waterlogging. The little millet is native to India and is called "Indian millet. It's an excellent source of protein and fibre. Widely produced in States such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, the little millet is used by many tribal communities.

FINGER MILLET

The finger millet is a powerhouse of nutrients. It packs in it a lot of protein, amino acids, calcium, minerals, fibre and iron. It also has low fat content. One of the most nutritious cereals, the finger millet does not contain gluten and is easy to digest. Also called ragi, the finger millet is grown mostly in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. It is said to have been domesticated some 5000 years ago, at the beginning of the Iron Age in the highlands of Eastern Africa. Seen here is a tribal woman harvesting her new ragi crop.

BROWNTOP MILLET

A crop grown mostly in the southern parts of the country, the browntop millet also goes by the name korale. A crop native to South Asia, it is traditionally cultivated as a cereal crop. It has a high nutritional value and is rich in fibre, iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. As it requires less energy input, it leaves a lower carbon footprint in agriculture. Seen here is a field carpeted with ready-to-harvest browntop millet.

BARNYARD MILLET

Grown mostly in the regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana, the barnyard millet is a drought-resistant crop. It is also called sanwa. Barnyard millet is a good source of protein, carbohydrates, and fibre. It also contains more micronutrients such as iron and zinc. Despite the fact that this crop can withstand adverse weather conditions much better than other cereals and has excellent nutritional and agronomic value, it is still an underutilised crop. Indian barnyard millet and Japanese barnyard millet are the two popular varieties of this millet species. The oldest archaeological records of the cultivation of Indian barnyard millet date back to 5000 B.C in India. Japanese millet is believed to have originated in Japan.

PEARL MILLET

One if the most widely grown crops in India, the pearl millet is also called bjra. In fact, it is the fourth most widely cultivated food crop after rice, wheat, and maize. It is grown majorly in areas such as Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana. This is an easy-to-digest cereal grain and is considered important due to its climate- resilent nature. It is draught resistant and can easily be cultivated in regions having not-so-good agro climatic conditions such as low and erratic rainfall, high mean temperature, infertile soil, and so on. It has its origins in West Africa, with the oldest usage dating back to 1000 BC. It is also used as feed and fodder for livestock.  

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Ecuador: Complex legacy of indigenous, colonial pasts

Named after Equator, the country was colonised by the Inca and Spanish empires before achieving independence in 1833. It has also been a part of several key scientific expeditions.

Ranu Joardar

Ecuador is located in northwestern South America. It is one of the most environmentally diverse countries and has even contributed to the environmental sciences such as establishing basic theories of modem geography and evolutionary biology.

Geography

Ecuador is named after Equator, which is the imaginary line around the Earth. While the Equator divides the country in two, most parts of it lie in the Southern Hemisphere. The country is bordered by Colombia and Peru. Andes Mountains are the backbone of the country; the Oriente in the east of the Andes is rich in oil Cotopaxi in the Andes is the highest active volcano in the world.

The Galapagos Islands, which lie 900 km west of Ecuador, are home to unique reptiles, birds, and plants. In the Costa or coastal plain region, most of the bananas in the world are grown.

Though Mount Everest's peak is the highest altitude above sea level, Ecuadors Mount Chimborazo is the highest point above Earth's centre. It is located at a degree south of the Equator where Earth's bulge is greatest. Despite having a height of only about 20.702 feet, it is the closest point on Earth to the stars.

History

Ecuador is a mixture of indigenous and colonial pasts. Most parts of the country were part of the Inca empire, the largest political unit of pre-Columbian America, Peru-centred Inca Empire in the 15th Century. A century later, it became a Spanish colony and remained under its rule for 300 years. The country gained independence from Spain in 1822.

However, the country's history dates back to long before even the Inca conquest. Pottery figurines and containers dating from 3000 to 2500 BC have been discovered, which makes them one of the earliest ceramics in the New World. By the 1400s,

Ecuador was divided among warring chiefdoms. Though the country had sophisticated raised-field cultivation systems and trade networks, it lacked cities and States until after the Inca conquest.

Flora and fauna

The wet lowlands of the Oriente and the northern and southeastern parts of the Costa are covered with tropical rainforests. Balsa trees, found in the Guayas River valley, are heavily exploited for their light wood. Meanwhile, the cinchona trees in the eastern forest have been a valuable source of quinine (medications to treat malaria) before its synthetic equivalents.

The rainforest is home to a wide variety of monkeys and carnivorous mammals such as jaguars, ocelots, foxes, weasels, otters, skunks, raccoons, coatis, and kinkajous. Besides, tapir, deer, and peccary are also found in the region. The region is home to about 1,500 species of birds such as condors, hummingbirds, blue-footed boobies, and parrots.

People and culture

The ethnic population includes several indigenous language-speaking people and highland and lowland Spanish-speaking mestizos (people of mixed indigenous and European descent). Most people describe themselves as mestizo.

The population also includes descendants of Africans and more-recent immigrants from countries such as Lebanon, China, Korea, Japan, Italy, and Germany.

Though Spanish is the official language, there are dialectal differences between Sierra and Costa Spanish. Sierra Spanish is influenced by Quichua. Quichua and Shuar (both of which are official intercultural languages) as well as other ancestral languages are spoken by the indigenous people.

Interestingly, people here identify more with their region or village than with the country. It can be said that the country may be divided into a dozen major folk-cultural regions such as norteno mestizo, northern Quechua, Esmeraldeno blacks, Shuar (Jivaro), and Amazonian Quechua.

Their holidays are associated with particular foods or drinks, and music. During Easter, the popular food, especially in the mountain highlands, is fanesca, which is a traditional Ecuadorian soup made with grains, vegetables, and hard-boiled eggs. Chilli sauce is part of most meals. In the coastal regions, the popular food is seviche, which is made with shrimp or shellfish or even mushrooms pickled with lemon juice, cilantro, and onions.

The country is a favourite tourist destination for its jazz, poetry readings, folk music, and arena rock concerts.

There are numerous architectural masterpieces in Ecuador such as the large tolas (pre-Inca ramp mounds) of the northern highlands, those protected at the Cochasqui archaeological park: the Inca stone walls of Ingapirca near Canar; the great colonial churches of Quito (especially San Francisco and La Compania) with their paintings and gilt wood carving. The old urban centre of Quito was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, as was that of Cuenca in 1999.

Football is Ecuador's national sport. Their other fovourite sports include basketball and volleyball.

Scientific marvels

The first scientific expedition to measure the Earth's circumference, led by Charles-Marie de La Condamine of France, was in Ecuador. Renowned naturalists Alexander von Humboldt of Prussia and Charles Darwin of England conducted research in Ecuador to establish basic theories of modern geography, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

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How does the Great Pacific Garbage Patch affect the environment?

At the great pacific Garbage patch, crabs, anemones, and plenty of other creatures have turned floating plastic debris into their homes, say researchers

The study

A team of researchers revealed that dozens of species of coastal invertebrate organisms have been able to survive and reproduce on plastic garbage that's been floating in the Ocean for years at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The scientists said that the findings suggest plastic pollution in the ocean might be enabling the creation of new floating ecosystems of species that are not normally able to survive in the open ocean.

Unlike organic material that decomposes and sinks within months or, at most n few years, plastic debris en float in the oceans for a much longer time. giving creatures the opportunity to survive and reproduce in the open ocean for years, says the new study published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal

"It was surprising to see how frequent the coastal species were They were on 70% of the debris that we found" Linsey Haram, a science fellow at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the study's lead author, said.

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What is the difference between macronutrients and micronutrients? And why do we need both?

Macronutrients are those nutrients you need in large amounts. They provide the energy (calories) required by the body. They are carbohydrates, proteins (including essential amino acids) and fats (including essential fatty acids). Some scientists also consider water and fibre to be macronutrients.

Different macronutrients have different amounts of calories per serving: fats yield 9 calories per gram, while proteins and carbs contain 4 calories per gram.

Energy-giving carbs are found in grains, fruits, beans and vegetables.

Protein in meat, dairy, eggs, tofu and legumes repairs and builds muscles, skin and organs and aids in producing some hormones. Fats in foods such as oil, seeds and nuts are stored in the body and used as backup fuel. They also protect and insulate organs and bones.

Vitamins and minerals

Micronutrients are so called because they are needed only in minuscule amounts. They help the body produce enzymes, hormones and other substances needed for proper growth and development.

Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals found in food. They include water-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin C and all the B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamins A, E and K and essential trace minerals like chromium, copper, iodine, iron, selenium, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.

The body cannot manufacture enough of the 30 essential micronutrients on its own, so you have to obtain them from food or from supplements.

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What are microbeads?

Did you know they are present in soaps, shower gels, facial scrubs and toothpastes? But why?

Microbeads are tiny plastic particles added to many cosmetics and personal care products, such as soaps, shower gels, facial scrubs and toothpastes as an efoliating agent.

Microbeads measure less than a millimetre. After a product with microbeads is used, the beads are flushed down the drain. They are so tiny they bypass wastewater treatment facilities and flow into lakes, rivers and oceans where they end up inside fish and other marine animals. As their stomachs fill up with the plastic, they eventually starve to death.

The Netherlands was the first country to ban cosmetic microbeads in 2014 and many other countries have followed suit. Despite the ban, a study that was conducted last year, has revealed that many personal care products in India including face washes and scrubs continue to have microbeads in them.

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What is saturation diving?

Let's find why it is one of the most dangerous jobs on Earth.

It is a method of deep sea diving in which the divers spend long periods of time in a special pressurised saturation chamber, which may be installed on a ship, ocean platform or under water. Saturation divers work at extreme depths of 200-300 metres or more below sea level (in contrast, scuba divers dive to a depth of 50 metres)

 A saturation diver lives in the saturation chamber for the duration of his project. Up to 12 divers live in close proximity in the chamber. In the chamber, the pressure is built up to match the pressure that the diver has to face in his working environment on the seabed The pressure at a depth of 300 metres under water is about 440 psi (pounds per square inch).

As the surrounding pressure on the diver’s body increases, he breathes in a mixture of oxygen and other inert gases like helium. The longer he stays in that pressurised environment, the more the inert gases dissolve in his body and saturate the divers blood and tissues. A diver can withstand the increased environmental pressure for a prolonged time.

To get to the sea floor, the diver exits the pressure chamber habitat through an airlock and enters a diving bell, which is lowered into the sea. After the diver completes his task, he gets back to the surface in the diving bell and re-enters the saturation chamber. Saturation divers usually have a work period of about 28 days after which, they have to compulsorily take a month off before going back to work.

Before the diver leaves the saturation chamber at the end of his work period, he has to undergo a long decompression to avoid 'the bends. technically known as decompression sickness. It is a condition which affects divers who ascend too quickly to the surface, leading to the harmful formation of gas bubbles in the blood and tissues. Saturation diving limits the number of decompressions, thereby significantly reducing the chances of decompression sickness.

Saturation divers are mainly used by the oil and gas industry or for research. They install pipelines, fix heavy machinery, build underwater structures, etc. on the seabed. Saturation diving is one of the most dangerous jobs on earth.

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What is Olympus Mons?

Volcanism is the eruption of molten rock or magma onto the surface of a planet. This activity is crucial in changing the topography of the concerned planet. Planet Earth has volcanoes on all the continents. But which is the largest volcano in the solar system?

Olympus Mons

Towering high, some three times as high as Mt. Everest (8.8 km) is a huge volcano on planet Mars. Christened "Olympus Mons", the volcano is the largest in the solar system!

It sits on the edge of a huge plateau called the Tharsis Bulge. It was formed as a result of the continuous flow of lava over millions of years. It is said to have begun some 115 million years ago.

Olympus Mons is one among a dozen large volcanoes in the Tharsis Montes region. Most of these volcanoes are ten to hundred times larger than their terrestrial counterparts. Olympus Mons is the tallest of them and towers 16 miles (25 km) above the surrounding area.

So how big is Olympus Mons?

Let's take the case of Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth. The volume of Olympus Mons is 100 times larger than Mauna Loa. It is said that the whole of the Hawaiian islands will fit inside the Olympus Mons. It spreads across 374 miles, the size of the state of Arizona.

A shield volcano

A shield volcano is called so because of its shape. Instead of the lava getting violently thrown out, here the molten material would be flowing down the sides of the volcano slowly.

As such it would appear like a warrior's shield seen from the side and hence the name. Shield volcanoes are wider when compared to their height. The outer edge of Olympus Mons is surrounded by a cliff that reaches a height of about 6 miles. This cliff itself is as tall as Mauna Loa. The base of the volcano is surrounded by a wide depression.

According to studies, Olympus Mons is a relatively young one though it took the volcano over a hundred million years to form, there are regions on the mountain that are just a few million years old. The volcano is considered to be active even now with the potential to erupt.

But why did such a giant volcano form on the red planet and not on Earth, one may ask? According to scientists, the low surface gravity of the planet and the rate of eruption led to the lava piling up higher on Mars. In the case of Earth, the movement of the crust prevents the build-up of lava.

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What is stylometry?

Stylometry is a powerful tool that helps one figures out who wrote what based on their unique writing style.

Stylometry is a field of study that uses statistical methods and computational tools to analyse and identify patterns in how people write. In simpler terms, stylometry can be understood as a detective tool for words, used to figure out who wrote what.

Finding the author

Authors have been able to write anonymously for centuries, with the belief that their true identity would never be revealed. However, in the past few years, advancements in machine learning methods have increased the effectiveness of identifying different patterns in an individual's writing. Every person has a distinct writing style, similar to a fingerprint. Stylometry analyses a text's word selection, sentence construction, and even punctuation to examine those literary fingerprints to determine the author of a written piece.

One famous example of stylometric analysis is the study of English playwright William Shakespeare's plays. Researchers have used computational tools to analyse the writing style of the bard and compare them to other works from the time period. Through this analysis, they have been able to identify which plays were likely written by Shakespeare and which ones might have been collaborations or even written by someone else entirely.

This kind of analysis was also used to reveal American statesmen James Madison and Alexander Hamilton as the writers of the anonymously published Federalist Papers (also known as The Federalist), as well as link British writer J.K. Rowling to the anonymous author of the book The Cuckoo's Calling. Stylometry can also be used in more serious situations, such as when researchers want to figure out who wrote a particular document or when law enforcement is trying to track down a suspect. By analysing the writing style in different documents, they can look for patterns that might help them identify the author.

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